Article archive for 2006

Friday, December 1, 2006

Looking forward to 2007

Another year is coming to an end, which of course means another year is about to begin. Funny how that works. As the new millenia turns one year older, our thoughts turn to the happenings of the past year and wishes for the year to come.

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Friday, December 1, 2006

Cheap and disturbing gifts under $50

Couldn’t find a Wii? No one going to buy you that fancy laptop? Someone else is going into space with Virgin Galactic? There’s no need to fret. No matter how down on your luck you are, we can find a fun, inexpensive, or completely weird and possibly insulting gift for you.

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Friday, December 1, 2006

Nice gifts for givers on a $50-500 budget

Bummed that the WestBay yacht is going to someone else this holiday season? Dejected that no one would share Alienware love with you? Perhaps you’re still moderately worthy. Here’s our $50-500 gift guide.

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Friday, December 1, 2006

Expensive (but worth it) gifts for the truly worthy

So, no one’s going to buy you that Bugatti Veyron you’re dreaming of, eh? Well, perhaps you’re loved enough to merit a gift that’s just expensive ($500-$5,000), rather than something in the millions. If you’re looking for geek toy love, you’ve found the right place.

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Friday, December 1, 2006

Super-expensive gifts for the rich and excessive

This year, we’re doing things a bit differently. Rather than just the dull recitation of popular products, we’ve turned to the ZATZ editors, to a bunch of experts in the Internet Press Guild, and to a bunch of tech gaming enthusiasts, my own gaming buddies in the Iron Phoenix gaming community. Together, we’ve put together a series of articles that take you from the wildly super expensive to the incredibly cheap. From the taste and style of a Mercedes-Benz McLaren SLR to the incredibly sad $1.99 English Soldier Mini Massager Vibrator (yep, it’s sex toy). To feed your inner Bill Gates, we defined the super-expensive category as anything from about $5,000 up to, well, absolutely no top end. You ain’t gettin’ it, but you can dream.

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Wednesday, November 1, 2006

Privacy, not machines, was the big voting issue last week

Last week, I discussed my personal dismay at the privacy violations I saw at my voting place. I asked readers to tell us about their experiences, and we got a number of fascinating comments from here in America and as far away as Australia. Read on to the end, because Bernard Bolch’s comment about mandatory voting in Australia is fascinating.

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Wednesday, November 1, 2006

Is voting security in Florida still a problem?

Today is Election Day here in the United States. As a registered voter, I did my duty and went down to my local polling place, and cast my vote. It was, without a doubt, the most disturbing voting experience I’ve ever had. In particular, we had issues of both inappropriate electioneering and a complete lack of privacy. Our interest here at Computing Unplugged was initially the touchscreen machines, since this is a computing technology that touches on our coverage areas. However, we’re also interested in the optical-scan systems, since they, too, are managed by computers and computing technology.

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Wednesday, November 1, 2006

Organize your smartphone’s pictures with SplashPhoto

These days, everyone’s taking digital pictures and the vast majority are being taken on camera phones. The developers of SplashPhoto claim it’s "The ultimate image viewer for PDAs and smartphones". Is it? Only Contributor Editor Heather Wardell can tell you for sure. Read her article to find out.

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Wednesday, November 1, 2006

Track your money flow with SplashMoney

Marge, where’s the Visa? Whether you’re a spender or particularly prudent (there’s a word we don’t use too often in Computing Unplugged), SplashMoney can help you keep track of your finances on the go. Should you spend your money on SplashMoney? Contributing Editor Heather Wardell tells you whether you should write the check.

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Sunday, October 1, 2006

Oh, SplashShopper

SplashShopper is more than a shopping list. It’s billed as a "smart list manager" and that’s an accurate description. The program allows you to create a variety of lists, such as movies you want to watch or a list of items at your favorite takeout restaurant, as well as the expected grocery list. Does our reviewer like it? You’ll have to read the article to find out.

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